Think Before You Speak

 During Avery's ABA session today (Digression: shockingly, Avery's therapist hasn't quit yet! *sarcasm* However, apparently Ezra's new therapist was supposed to start today--which I wouldn't have known had I not emailed the site manager this morning--but she quit yesterday after being hired on Monday.  Why am I not surprised?  I haven't responded to the email because I really have nothing nice to say--a few suggestions, definitely [maybe improve your hiring standards?], but nothing nice), anyway, after working on some math lessons, our case manager remarked to him, "Yeah, you'll never need the math you're learning when you're an adult."  She just might need someone to save her from me.  I sat at my kitchen table fairly stunned by her words, absolutely fuming, unable to step in and correct her because I knew I couldn't respond kindly.  

Later, she wondered out loud who invented kinetic sand, "Like, maybe a glue specialist?"  Uhhhh, perhaps an ENGINEER who used MATH??????

My kid struggles with math enough as it is.  He struggles to like it, he struggles to learn it.  My husband (math nerd) works really hard to make it as fun and interesting as possible.  We know how much Avery loves science, 'useless' facts, and research, so we do our best to approach math from those aspects.  He also loves a good challenge, so Shawn makes huge efforts to devise fun math challenges for Avery.  So, to have a person who specializes in children with autism (although, this applies to typical children as well!) tell my kid he's not going to need this math as an adult sets us back yet again.  She should know better.   This was not up to her to speak over my child's life, and certainly not his future.  

I did use this as a learning opportunity for Avery later.  We talked about using our words wisely and not to discourage others.  We also did our own research and brainstorming, finding all the careers, and even daily life experiences which use math.  Just a few things in which math is applied that immediately came to mind: a cashier or bank teller counting change for a customer (and balancing out the till at the end of a shift), a customer counting out cash to a cashier, understanding a bank loan, and prerequisite/foundational math for any college major involving further math classes (I had to take statistics as a psychology major!).  How many of you love video games?  Whether you realize it or not, you're using math!  Many artists even need to know math!  According to https://www.cuemath.com/learn/math-in-daily-life/, other necessary daily math skills include managing money and being able to budget, calculating time, understanding discounts, exercising and dieting (anyone counting calories out there?) and driving.  https://www.mathunion.org/icmi/role-mathematics-overall-curriculum states "Mathematics is a fundamental part of human thought and logic, and integral to attempts at understanding the world and ourselves. Mathematics provides an effective way of building mental discipline and encourages logical reasoning and mental rigor. In addition, mathematical knowledge plays a crucial role in understanding the contents of other school subjects such as science, social studies, and even music and art."  Mathnasium.com ("Ten Reasons Why Math is Important to Life"),  https://blog.mindresearch.org/blog/why-is-math-so-important and https://edubirdie.com/blog/why-is-math-important list even more reasons from cooking and sewing to critical thinking skills (and, if you know anything about autism, critical thinking skills can be difficult to build, and a reason why we chose ABA is to help us help our kids build those skills!).  There are also many medical reasons a lay person uses daily math, for example, calculating the correct dose of an OTC medicine; diabetics often need to count carbs in order to properly calculate the insulin necessary for their meals.  And let's not forget homeschooling parents, and even parents with children in traditional schools who have to help with math homework (and in some cases even teach it, depending on the child's teacher)!  

I hope you can understand why my brain was on fire over this one.  As one of my close friends said, "Math runs the world."  Whether you liked it or not as a student yourself (I didn't), whether you excelled in it or not (I didn't), math is an everyday fact of life. 

"Mathematics is the queen of science and arithmetic is the queen of mathematics." 

--Carl Friedrich Gauss